South Carolina lawmakers filed a new bipartisan sports betting bill for 2025 to bring legalized sports wagering to the Palmetto State. HB 3625 was pre-filed in the state House on Dec. 12 and has been immediately referred to the Committee on Ways and Means. The state’s 2025 legislative session begins on Jan. 14.
HB 3625 would enact the South Carolina Sports Wagering Act, establish a nine-member Sports Wagering Commission
The bill is primarily sponsored by Rep. Chris Murphy (R) and has bipartisan co-sponsorship in Rep. Heath Sessions (R) and Rep. J Todd Rutherford (D), who sponsored the 2023 sports betting campaign.
If passed, HB 3625 would enact the South Carolina Sports Wagering Act and create a nine-member South Carolina Sports Wagering Commission to oversee and regulate the industry.
The bill will also limit market size, restricting operators to a maximum cap of eight licenses. Applying operators are required to be already live with sports betting in at least five jurisdictions in order to be considered.
South Carolina’s online sports betting tax rate would be set at 12.5% of operators’ adjusted gross revenue. There would be a $100,000 application fee and a licensing fee of $1 million for accepted applicants. Full licenses would expire after five years.
According to Section 39-55-200 (A) of HB 3625, operators are not required to use official league data for determining the results of sports wagers on events of any organization whether headquartered in the U.S. or elsewhere.
Palmetto State is still without land-based casinos, horse racing, and online betting
Provision (B) states that “an operator shall establish a dispute resolution process for any disputed result from a sports wager, provided a written protest is received from an authorized bettor within 48 hours of the conclusion of the event on which the sports wager was placed.”
The operator must make a written determination of the protest within seven business days of receipt of the protest. An appeal of the operator decision can be taken to the commission if it’s filed within seven business days.
Additionally, the commission may appoint a single hearing officer to make a determination on the written record. Licensees cannot under any circumstance offer, accept, or extend credit to a bettor when accepting wagers.
Operators are also banned from accepting wagers from individuals in the voluntary exclusion program. “Licensee” means a person who holds a license issued pursuant to Section 39-55-150.
As of December 2024, only the South Carolina Education Lottery offers gambling. The state has no land-based casinos, no horse racing, and no online betting regulatory commission.
Lawmakers have failed countless times in the past to legalize sports betting. HB 3749 was introduced in January 2023, but the bill was quickly struck down after being referred to committee.
State Gov. Henry McMaster has campaigned against gambling in the past and will remain in office until 2027.
